as a huge phoenix suns fan it has been disappointing watching through the steve kerr era. i know they were worried about shawn marion staying and them not wanting to pay him as much as he wanted but he was a perfect fit for that team. i really dont have much to say about it, it is very depressing.

A lot of people tagged Sarver as a cheap owner, but he is NOT a cheap owner. Sarver was and is willing to spend. The Suns were near luxary tax threshold every year. He just didn't hire the right guy to run the team.

Brian Colengelo was and still is a pretty good GM, but Sarver wanted to take over and let him go. Since then the Suns hadn't had a decent move.

When Sarver took over, Joe Johnson just finished his 3rd season in the league looking for a decent extension, but Sarver wasn't willing to pay high enough for Joe Johnson's extension (it was at a pretty reasonable price at that time) and then pissed Joe Johnson off by lowballing him again when Joe Johnson became a restricted free agent after his 4th season. Joe Johnson then decided to sign with the Hawks and publicly said he would not want the Suns to match the offer (the Suns actually was considering to match). As a result, BC turned Joe Johnson into Boris Diaw and a first round pick (which became Robin Lopez). That was the last good move for the Suns organization.

I am not sure why, but Sarver just didn't seem to like having 1st round picks. What else did they do after Sarver took over?
1) Traded the 2004 1st round pick (7th Luol Deng) to Chicago for Chicago's 2005 1st round pick. BC did this move because he thought Iguodala would not be available at 7th (ended up AI2 went at 9th pick). It was thought to be a decent trade because the Bulls were one of the worst team back then, but then Bulls got to playoff the year after and the pick became (21st Nate Robinson).
2) Traded Nate Robinson to the Knicks to get rid of QRich bad contract (receive a shorter contract in Kurt Thomas).

Since then, none of the Suns moves make any sense, D'Antoni took over as the GM and did the following:
1) In 2006, traded draft right of Rajon Rondo for future 1st round pick (24th in 2007) to get rid of Brian Grant.
2) They also sold Sergio Rodriguez to the Blazers
The motivation behind these trades were to get enough CAP to keep TIM THOMAS! But TT left anyway, and ended up they wasted the money on MARCUS BANKS.

Even back in 2006, I think it was one of the dumbest moves ever. Rajon Rondo and Sergio Rodriguez would have been the young passing PG the Suns needed to backup Nash and they traded both for CASH and CAP space to sign Tim Thomas (a decent player with questionable heart). They even failed to re-sign TT and ended up with Marcus Banks who got paid more than both Rondo and Rodriguez combined! There was really no money saving and the two trades were plain stupid moves (another proof that Sarver is not cheap, he just got the wrong guy running the team).

Steve Kerr who was a minority owner and a trusted friend of Sarver took over and did the following:
1) In 2007, they sold Rudy Fernandez (the pick they got from Rondo trade) to the Blazers and kept Alando Tucker!
2) They also traded two unprotected 1st round picks (2008 and 2010) to get rid of Kurt Thomas' EXPIRING contract.
3) After getting rid of Kurt Thomas' contract, they traded Marion for Shaq that entirely changed the style of the team. Sarver opened his pocket again to take in more money to get Shaq.
4) They got rid of D'Antoni after the season by letting him go to the Knicks (so that they can save some money since the Knicks would cover up.)
5) They hired Terry Porter to completely change Suns' Run & Gun to try to focus their offense on Shaq and failed again. It took them a year to realize Shaq won't work and traded him for expiring contracts.

They have basically wasted Steve Nash's prime and all the champion contending years by making stupid moves. If they would have kept the young players like Rondo, Rodriguez and did not spend money on guys like Banks, they wouldn't have to give up so many draft picks just to get rid of bad contracts.

Sarver is not cheap. He just hired the wrong people to run the Suns who saved money on bargain players and young players but overpaid for old players who are going downhill.

This maybe the last shot they have a being a decent team. I fully expected Steve Kerr and Sarver to screw up again!

realgmbakax, for the most part I thought that was a fantastic post . As much as I liked your mini essay, I have to disagree with a couple of points.

1. Robert Sarver is the guy who hired the management team. Therefore, he should be held accountable for the decisions by the people he brought on board.

2. On those major moves you described, Sarver signed off on every one. I happen to think Steve Kerr is a very smart guy so that makes me wonder if Kerr initiated all of those foolish moves that were approved by Sarver? Or, is it possible that Sarver forced Kerr's hand to make moves Sarver personally wanted while everyone else, including Steve Kerr, knew they were stupid?

3. I think Robert Sarver's incredible history of giving away number one draft choices year after year was motivated by a desire to save money. By the way, could you imagine Phoenix today with Rudy Fernandez, Rondo, and Sergio Rodriguez?

If Robert Sarver gave away so many number one draft choices as the owner of the NY Knicks he would be toast in the NY press on a daily basis. Why do you think Sarver gets little or no criticism from the Phoenix press?

is he really that bad of a gm?..if he is then the twolvs,clippers,knicks,gs,kings, and prob other teams have bad gm's as well because havnt they been worst or even wit the suns in that time span that he's been the suns gm? if we go by what hes done since he's been there. as far as blowing up being a contender...that team wasnt gonna get over the hump and wouldnt have been able to afford to keep everyone so it didnt really make alot of sense to keep them all together. at some point you have to blow up a team that has reached its ceiling

You can't blame Phoenix troubles all on Kerr..Before he got there Management drafted and gave away alot of talented players..Rondo,Deng,Fernandez & Nate Robinson..Letting Joe Johnson get away...The 1 thing i heard from Suns players is that Kerr is fair and tells them to their face why he does things...He brought in Shaq to tackle those bigs in the West..Marion was becoming a problem in Phoenix, it was time for him to go...The lost of Marion hurt them more then they thought..Becuz when he left so did Phoenix desire to play defense..